Toyota Prius Becomes World’s Third Best-Selling Car Line

Green is the new black. At least, when it comes to cars.

For just over a decade, those who bought a Toyota Prius hybrid have had to entertain the possibility that the rest of the world would view them as tree-hugging, tofu-eating, hemp-wearing, middle-class hippies.

In April however, that changed forever as the Toyota Prius family became the world’s third best-selling car line for the first quarter of 2012.

To do that, Toyota sold a staggering 247,230 Prius hybrids, beating sales figures for cars like the Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Cruze, Honda Civic and Volkswagen Golf.

In first place for the quarter, selling 300,800 cars was another Toyota, the 2012 Corolla. In second place, just under 30,000 cars ahead of the Prius line, was the 2012 Ford Focus.

Toyota’s Prius family success highlights a growing trend towards fuel efficient cars and higher gas prices, but it also highlights the effect that expanding the Prius family has had on sales.

A year ago, Toyota only sold one Prius, the 2011 Prius mid-size hatchback. Since then, it has launched the 2012 Toyota Prius C subcompact hatch, 2012 Toyota Prius V mid-size wagon, and the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid.

In doing so, Toyota has placed its legendary Prius name into three markets that it didn’t occupy, enticing more sales than it would ever have done from a single car.

In addition, green car tax rebates and credits in countries like Japan have meant that the 2012 Toyota Prius C -- which is sold in Japan as the 2012 Aqua -- have become runaway successes.


Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1076525_toyota-prius-becomes-worlds-third-best-selling-car-line

Toyota Prius Dealers

2012 Toyota Prius V, Prius C, Help Toyota Top 4 Million Hybrid Sales

Believe it or not, Toyota has now sold more than 4 million hybrid cars worldwide since it launched the original Toyota Prius hybrid in Japan in 1997. 
According to Toyota, the milestone was passed in late April, when the 2012 Toyota Prius C had only been on sale five or six weeks. 

But while it -- and the 2012 Toyota Prius V wagon which launched last fall -- have only been on sale a relatively short time, Toyota says the two latest additions to its hybrid lineup account for approximately 250,000 cars already. 

Toyota estimates that there are now 2.6 million Priuses worldwide, alongside 270,000 Camry Hybrids. 

Other models which contributed to Toyota’s 4-million hybrid car milestone include the 2012 Highlander Hybrid, and luxury hybrids from Lexus, Toyota’s prestige brand. 

Interest in Toyota’s hybrid vehicles is rapidly increasing. While it took Toyota nearly ten years to reach the one million hybrid cars milestone,  it reached its two million mark two years and three months later, with the third million occurring 18 months after that. 

Selling the last million hybrid cars has taken Toyota just 14 months. 

In fact, in the first four months of 2012, 

Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1076398_2012-toyota-prius-v-prius-c-help-toyota-top-4-million-hybrid-sales


Toyota Prius Dealers

Going Forward, In Reverse: How Toyota Made Its Comeback, and Honda Hasn’t

When Toyota had that niggling little kerfuffle a few years ago, what with its cars accelerating its occupants without their knowledge, analysts and pundits wondered out loud when, or if, Toyota would gain its mojo back. Turns out, the answer is now. Toyota sales were up 13.8 percent in April, compared to last year, and Toyota sold 6,000 more Camrys in that same month than in 2011. Some analysts point out that it took about 4 months for Toyota to bounce back, from both the spate of recalls as well as the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March.


A recall of Toyota’s magnitude might have destroyed a lesser company. But, being Toyota, the juggernaut can seemingly do no wrong.

On the other hand, Honda never enjoyed such a recall. Yet, its sales have been floundering recently—it suffered nowhere near the humiliating publicity as Toyota, but sales have dropped for 10 straight months, and overall by two percent from last April. Even with the national consciousness learning to accept $4/gallon gasoline, Honda’s hybrids haven’t been selling well. What’s going on at the big H? Should Honda suffer through its own recall to rejuvenate its own motivation? Oh wait, it already has its own share of recall problems.

How did Toyota regain its customers? It launched a new Camry, which despite its problems is practically ingrained in the American spirit, as quintessential to the nation’s well-being as apple pie and a warm glass of milk before bedtime. Two new Prius models proved to be popular, efficient and well-priced. In fact, Prius sales doubled in April 2012 compared to April of last year, though Toyota didn’t specify if it included all three models.

“Any way you look at it, Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers outperformed the industry,” said Robert Carter, Vice President of the Toyota division. “April was an excellent month for Toyota and a good month for the industry. We are ordering more Camrys and [the factory] is able to build them. We are adding overall volume.”

Read more: http://blogs.automotive.com/going-forward-in-reverse-how-toyota-made-its-comeback-and-honda-hasnt-93519.html#ixzz1uIFHo8aV

Chicago Toyota Dealers

Orland Toyota is now offering an excellent low lease on a 2012 Toyota Camry LE Only $199 per month! 


Orland Toyota has been serving the Chicago southland community for nearly 40 years. Family owned and operated, we are here to provide you with the personal service you deserve.


Chicago Toyota - Orland Toyota

2011-2012 Toyota Prius V hybrid will get an exhaust problem fixed

Toyota Motor Corp. announced a service campaign to fix its brand new Prius V, a wagon-like vehicle in its wildly popular gas-electric hybrid line. Similar to the hybrid sedan, the roomier Prius V captures the "waste heat" from its exhaust system. However, flawed components in the recovery system may cause the Prius V to leak engine coolant.

According to the Wall Street Journal's report, Toyota blames weak exhaust actuators for the problem in about 28,000 Prius V hybrids worldwide. About 8,000 of the 2011-2012 hybrid wagons are in Japan, where its sold as the Prius Alpha. The campaign will replace the weak actuators in the exhaust-heat-recovery systems for free.

The exhaust waste heat recovery system is used on Toyota's gas-electric hybrid engine to keep its engine warm when turned off. This in turn improves the hybrids' fuel efficiency by decreasing the amount of fuel needed during a cold engine start. (For more information, see Consumer Reports' Hybrids 101: Guide to gasoline-electric hybrid cars and powertrains.)

Consumer Reports experts recently tested the Prius V wagon and noted a very good fuel rating of about 41 mpg. That's a small drop compared to the 44 mpg results from Toyota's older Prius sedan, one of the top three Best and worst cars for fuel economy in Consumer Reports' annual April auto issue.

The Prius sedan has been a popular vehicle in both the U.S. and Japanese markets, this is the first model year for the Prius V and the lighter compact Prius C hatchback. However, our Cars experts advise in Consumer Reports new car buying advice to avoid first-generation car models.

Check out Consumer Reports Guide to fuel economy for ideas on how to save money at the gas pump. And if you're shopping for a new fuel-efficient vehicle, check out Consumer Reports' Guide to alternative fuels.

Read More: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/04/toyota-prius-v-hybrid-will-get-an-exhaust-problem-fixed.html

Illinois Toyota Dealers

The 2013 Toyota Avalon Reveal

Watch as the reimagined 2013 Avalon is revealed at the 2012 New York Auto Show. http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/avalon/

Modern, athletic and elegant, the reimagined 2013 Avalon takes Toyota to new levels of design and driving enthusiasm. Come explore. http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/avalon/

Read More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et0XtDHodQM&feature=youtube_gdata

Chicago Toyota Dealers

Toyota sets Prius sales record on bigger lineup, gas prices

LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales of Prius hybrids reached a record in March and in the first quarter, propelled by higher gasoline prices and two new models.

Toyota, the largest seller of gasoline-electric autos, sold 28,711 units in March of the Prius "family" now comprised of a plug-in Prius and c subcompact, along with the original hatchback and v wagon. The previous monthly best for Prius was May 2007, when it delivered 24,009 units.

The fast start for the world's top-selling alternative powertrain car keeps Toyota on track to meet a goal of 220,000 Prius sales in the U.S. this year, up from 136,463 in 2011. The vehicle accounts for half of U.S. hybrid sales, and a shortage of the car last year due to Japan's earthquake and tsunami cut industrywide deliveries to about 273,000 units from about 275,000 a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"At this pace, and with the recovery in the U.S. economy, Toyota's target for Prius sales looks fairly doable," said Takashi Aoki, senior fund manager at Mizuho Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

"Toyota's move to raise the price of their bigger Prius models is a good sign that the company is trying to make the models more profitable, too," Aoki said, citing the carmaker's price increase of its Prius wagon version.

First-quarter record

Hybrid sales typically track the cost of gasoline, rising in line with pump price increases. Regular grade gasoline cost an average of $3.93 a gallon on April 1, up from $3.28 at the end of last year, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge.

"Fuel economy remains a top purchase consideration among consumers, and we are pleased with the continued response to Toyota's lineup," , Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president of U.S. sales, said in an e-mail on Monday.

Prius and the Prius c are rated as delivering an average of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per gallon in combined city and highway driving by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Prius v wagon averages 42 mpg and the plug-in Prius, able to go as far as 15 miles on electricity alone, is rated as getting 95 mpg- equivalent when drivers frequently recharge the lithium-ion battery pack, according to the EPA.

First-quarter Prius sales surpassed 57,000, based on the company's estimate for March. The model's best previous quarter was April-June 2007, said Celeste Migliore, a spokeswoman for the company's U.S. sales unit in California.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20120403/RETAIL01/120409978#ixzz1r5LW6d3z

Chicago Toyota Prius Dealers